Southland’s Muslims End Month of Fasting

This year, Ramadan’s month of fasting left 67-year-old Mohammed Nadery tired and a little weak. But on Wednesday, the Afghan native and North Hills resident was grateful to have made it through another year.

He and hundreds of Muslims gathered at the Odyssey restaurant in Granada Hills for Eid al-Fitr, which marks an end to the month of reflection and fasting commemorating God’s revelation of the first segment of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, to the prophet Mohammed.

“Thanks to God,” Nadery said, “that he has given us all this opportunity.”

For adults, Eid al-Fitr is a celebration of self-cleansing and communion with God during Ramadan, and for children it means staying awake the night before in anticipation of the gifts they will receive.

“As kids, this was the day we were looking forward to, because of the gifts,” said 24-year-old Nesar Ahmad Nasim. “I used to make a lot of money, because I had a lot of uncles and aunts.”

For Abdul Nasir Arghandehwal, the day holds a more somber meaning.

“Today is the day you celebrate the expulsion of the big devil within your body,” said Arghandehwal, of Woodland Hills. “It gives you the feeling that for one month of struggle, you have accomplished what God told you to do.”

Although Eid al-Fitr is traditionally a three-day observance, many Muslims in the United States cut the celebration to one day. Some, like Santa Monica resident Muhammad Noori, have to trim it even more.

Noori, 35, happily mingled with family members at the crowded morning reception, where men hugged each other heartily, traditionally dressed young women posed for photos and everyone enjoyed glazed doughnuts.

Noori said he had to return to West L.A. in a few hours to open his computer shop.

“Retail is always like that,” said Noori, whose black, double-breasted suit jacket covered a traditional knee-length smock.

The communal celebration, sponsored by the Islamic Center of Reseda, was one of many held Wednesday in Southern California and was a sign of the growing Muslim population here.

Among the younger children, the excitement was palpable. At prayers, a few young boys stood up in the packed room of prostrate men.

Although the tinge of commercialism was never far away--during prayers, a computer company stuck fliers in visitors’ windshields reading, “Eid Special! Win a Free Work Station!”--most reveled in the completion of loftier work.

“To me, [Ramadan] means that during the month I remember what the starving and poor are going through,” said Edris Khestoo, a UCLA student from Reseda. “It’s what every practicing Muslim has to go through.”